Surprisingly, this is now week 4 of my placement at Raploch Primary school! Where has the time went? Today, I was invited along to take part in three physical education classes which included the following sports/physical activity; badminton, fitness, and football. For this specific blog, I have chosen to speak about the badminton session. This session was geared towards a primary 3/4 class. For the warm-up, we played toilet tig which was chosen by the participants.
After the warm-up, we played the traffic light game which worked on racket handling and movement. All the participants were required to have a shuttlecock and racket when taking part in this drill. The teacher shouted instructions that the children had to carefully listen to and follow. For example, if the teacher shouted the color green, the participants were encouraged to run while balancing the shuttlecock on their racket, if she shouted amber the participates were expected to walk while balancing the shuttlecock on the racket followed by red which meant the participants had to stop.
For the second drill, the participants had to try and keep the shuttlecock off of the ground by taking “small touches”. During this drill, I stepped in and made numerous coaching points to help a group of girls that I noticed were struggling. I encouraged the girls to aim for the centre of the badminton racket when trying to hit the shuttlecock as they were hitting the sides. After given the coaching points I stepped back and let the girls try it themselves. Most of the girls were screaming “I CAN DO IT!!”. This put a huge cheesy smile on my face as not only was I improving the children’s technique, I was also making them feel positive about themselves!
Finally, we went into a rally where the participants were asked to pick a partner and hit the shuttle back and forward to one another. A few of the children ran up to me and asked can I be your partner? This again made me feel valued. Overall, I would say this has been one of the best sessions that I have assisted during my time at Raploch Primary School. The children listened, showed excitement and most importantly, enjoyed the session! – Lauren
Hi Lauren,
It clear to see that the badminton session has stood out for you while on placement this week. It’s great that you had the opportunity to step in and help by making coaching points as this will give you experience of coaching children. The points you gave the children helped them which made improvement for the children but also shows you’ve got what it takes. Hope you continue to enjoy your placement.
Holly Sheil
Hi Lauren, I am smiling too. I am so pleased to hear that you have postively influenced the children. Very well done. Thank you for sharing your story as always. I really appreciate that.
Time did fly. I can’t beilieve that we are in the middle of the semester. I look forward to your next post! -Romie
I am so glad you enjoyed the Badminton session this week, Lauren. It is great that you helped the group of girls improve and in a positive manner! Well Done, I look forward to hearing about your next day on placement.
-Stephanie.
I am glad that you enjoyed this session Lauren. It seems as though you are almost learning just as much as the kids are! It’s also nice to hear that the kids are enjoying your coaching which must make you feel really positive about yourself – and valued like you said. Hopefully this positivity continues over the next few weeks!